WE GATHER IN SILENCE
TO WAIT UPON THE LORD
Essay
2/9/78
W
hat a beautiful thing is meeting.
W
a beautiful thing it is to be in a state
of worship.
Worship I consider to be a state in which we
are better able to apprehend the oneness of
everyone and everything.
I like to think that it is possible to be in
this state of worship at all times, and in all places
and with all people.
It came to me recently that the best description of God
I know of is: Mother Nature and Father Time.
While I was walking along the other day, seeking
to be in a state of worship, seeking to commune
with Mother Nature and Father Time, it came to me
that I have been mistaken in asserting or implying
that I do not believe in God. What I really meant was
I do not believe in a God, or even in one
God. For it came to me that God is not a person or a being
or even a thing; God is a property, or attribute
or quality, and each person partakes of, or inherently
has this property, attribute, or quality.
We may call this property "Godness" or "divinity". Thus
rather than saying that there is that of God in every person
it would be more accurate and clearer to say, Each person
has the quality of Godness or divinity, each person
is Godlike or manifests the property of Godness.
What is this property? For me it is the sense
of oneness with everyone and everything I defined
the state of worship to be. Thus when we are in a state
of worship we are best manifesting the property of Godness
that sense of oneness. That is why we feel that God
is in the midst of us when we are gathered in a meeting
for worship. That is why meeting for worship is such a
beautiful thing.
(originally published under the name of John Fitz)